This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: History under the Trump and Biden administrations.(June 2024) |
USA Freedom Corps was a White House office and fifth policy council (along with Domestic, Economic, National Security, and Homeland Security) within the Executive Office of the President of the United States under George W. Bush, who as President served as its chair. Bush announced its creation during his 2002 State of the Union Address, and the Corps was officially established the next day (30 January), describing itself as a "Coordinating Council... working to strengthen our culture of service and help find opportunities for every American to start volunteering." [1]
A USA Freedom Corps Network and online clearinghouse promoted individual volunteer service opportunities within the United States and abroad and connected Americans to opportunities to serve in federal programs, such as AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and Senior Corps, or to find local service opportunities by zip code and interest. The council and office were also involved with U.S. federal government service programs and provided new support for these existing programs. AmeriCorps grew from 50,000 to 75,000 in 2004. The Peace Corps reached its highest levels in more than 30 years. Freedom Corps also created new programs such as the Citizen Corps for homeland security, Volunteers for Prosperity [2] for international volunteering, and a President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, which promoted the new President's Volunteer Service Award.
Henry C. Lozano was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps from September 11, 2007 until July 25, 2008. He was preceded by Desiree Thompson Sayle and succeeded by Alison T. Young. The first director of the program was John Bridgeland, previously director of the Domestic Policy Council on George W. Bush's White House staff.
The USA Freedom Corps also announced it has begun to work "with educators and others to help increase civic awareness and participation" across the United States and hosted a White House Summit on American History, Civics and Service, resulting in new initiatives to support civic education at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Archives. In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush also announced that his USA Freedom Corps would provide new support school-based and community-based mentoring, including mentoring children of prisoners, working in partnership with his faith-based initiative. The goal to reach 100,000 children of prisoners with mentors was met.
Created within months of the 2001 September 11 attacks, the body sought in part to encourage volunteer participation in homeland security.
USA Freedom Corps put in place the first annual measurement of volunteer service at the Census Bureau. Volunteering rose from 59.8 million Americans from September 2001 to 65.4 million Americans by September 2005, sustaining the wave of volunteering that occurred after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. [3]
The Corps came to international attention on January 3, 2005, when George W. Bush named former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to lead a major campaign, through the Corps, to raise funds from private individuals and businesses to provide humanitarian support for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. President Obama followed the USA Freedom Corps model by tapping Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to lead the fundraising efforts in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Key components of the USA Freedom Corps have been continued under the administration of President Obama, including the Volunteers for Prosperity program that was authorized under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act; the Citizen Corps for homeland security and its component programs—Volunteers in Police Service, Medical Reserve Corps, Community Emergency Response Teams, Fire Corps, and Citizen Corps Councils—the President's Volunteer Service Award; and the White House USA Freedom Corps office, now called the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which was under the USA Freedom Corps, was also continued by President Obama as the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Timothy John Roemer is an American diplomat and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003 as a Democrat from Indiana's 3rd congressional district. Subsequently, he was the president of the Center for National Policy (CNP), a Washington, D.C.-based national security think tank. He served as U.S. Ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011. Roemer currently serves on the advisory board of Washington, D.C. based non-profit America Abroad Media.
The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations and agencies of the United States government.
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed at meeting the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The MRC consists of medical and non-medical volunteers who contribute to local health initiatives, such as activities meeting the Surgeon General's priorities for public health, and supplement existing response capabilities in times of emergency. The MRC provides the structure necessary to pre-identify, credential, train, and activate medical and public health volunteers.
Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.
AmeriCorps is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work programs in many sectors. These programs include AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Seniors, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and other national service initiatives. The agency's mission is "to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering." It was created by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. In September 2020, the agency rebranded itself as AmeriCorps, although its official name is unchanged.
The President's Volunteer Service Award is a civil award bestowed by the President of the United States. Established by executive order by George W. Bush, the award was established to honor volunteers that give hundreds of hours per year helping others through the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The award can be granted to individuals, families and organizations located throughout the United States. Depending on the amount of service hours completed, individuals can receive the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and/or the President's Call to Service Award. The Call to Service Award is the most prestigious, and it has been awarded to few Americans to recognize over 4,000 hours of extraordinary service including notable honorees such as S. Truett Cathy, Mark Carman, and Zach Bonner. Awardees may receive a personalized certificate, an official pin, medallion, and/or a congratulatory letter from the President depending on the award earned.
Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
John M. Bridgeland is a former director of the United States Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Corps. He is president and CEO of the public policy firm Civic Enterprises, the co-founder and CEO of the COVID Collaborative and the vice-chair of the non-profit organization Malaria No More.
Desiree Thompson Sayle is an American political aide. She most recently served as deputy assistant to the president and director of Presidential Correspondence in the Trump administration. She previously served in the same role from 2001 to 2004 during the Presidency of George W. Bush, and also served as Director of the USA Freedom Corps from 2004 to 2008.
CaliforniaVolunteers is the state agency charged with increasing the number and impact of Californians engaged in service and volunteering.
ServiceNation was a campaign of Be The Change, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its mission is to rekindle an ethic of civic responsibility in America through universal national service. ServiceNation's goal was to expand opportunities for Americans to spend a year in non-military national service such as AmeriCorps. National service programs like Americorps pay a living stipend and reward volunteers who have completed service with a monetary education award.
Sonal R. Shah, is an American economist and public official. She is the CEO of The Texas Tribune, a politics and public policy-specific nonprofit news organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. Shah served as the National Policy Director for Mayor Pete Buttigieg's run in the 2020 United States presidential election. From April 2009 to August 2011, she served as the Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the White House.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act or Serve America Act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on March 9, 2009, by Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York. Originally titled the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the bill reauthorizes and expands the AmeriCorps program that was first established in 1993. It passed in the House of Representatives on March 18, 2009. The U.S. Senate debated and approved an amended version of the bill on March 26, 2009, renaming it the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, after Senator Ted Kennedy. The House of Representatives voted on the bill a second time, approving the amended version on March 31, 2009. It was signed by President Barack Obama on April 21, 2009.
The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation was an office new to the Obama Administration, created within the White House, to catalyze new and innovative ways of encouraging government to do business differently. Its first director was the economist Sonal Shah. The final director was David Wilkinson.
Henry Lozano is a non-profit executive and grassroots organizer. His years of public service culminated in his post at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps. On August 10, 2011, he was appointed to serve as the Director of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge and Urban Ministries Initiatives.
The Task Force on New Americans is an interagency initiative to help immigrants learn English, embrace the common core of American civic culture, and fully become American. It was created in June 2006 by President George W. Bush. Established within the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Michael Chertoff serves as Chair of the Task Force. Membership includes representatives from 12 Cabinet-level departments and a technical working committee of eight additional federal agencies. Alfonso Aguilar, Chief of the Office of Citizenship at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), serves as Chair of the Task Force's technical committee. The Task Force has worked to develop interagency initiatives to help immigrants settle in their new country and maximize the use of federal resources in promoting integration. By providing technical resources to communities and organizations, encouraging volunteerism, developing effective training methods, conducting targeted research efforts, and providing recommendations to the President, the Task Force has sought to encourage successful immigrant assimilation in a comprehensive manner. In December 2022 the Biden Administration announced it would relaunch the White House Task Force on New Americans.
The Franklin Project was a policy program of the Aspen Institute from October 2012 to December 2015, that focused on advancing national service in the United States. Walter Isaacson called the project the "biggest idea" to come out of the Aspen Ideas Festival during his tenure as CEO of the Aspen Institute. In January 2016, the project merged with ServiceNation and the Service Year Exchange project of the National Conference on Citizenship to form Service Year Alliance.
The following is a timeline of the presidency of George W. Bush, from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2003.